


That Long Summer Night

by MarieAllen



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-12
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 03:05:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1181161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarieAllen/pseuds/MarieAllen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tired of their best friends' horrible behavior to each other, Gerald and Phoebe do something drastic. Language and Adult Situations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

Tired of their best friends' horrible behavior to each other, Gerald and Phoebe do something drastic. Language and Adult Situations.

That Long Summer Night

This particular summer afternoon was really just like any other summer afternoon. The sun was bright. Birds sung in twitterpation. Kids played ball in the street. Helga and Arnold argued at the lunch table.

This time it was over the ketchup. Helga, loving to douse her entire meal with the red, sugary goodness, used the last of the bottle before handing it over to Arnold. And Arnold, instead of reaching across to the empty table next to them, blew up, yet again, at the blonde girl sitting across from him.

"Did you really have to use all the ketchup, Helga? Couldn't you have been a little less selfish and thought about everyone else at the table?"

Phoebe and Gerald just looked at each other across the table, sharing the same annoyed, embarrassed look. The two were constantly at each other's throats. They had been every time that they were together.

"Can you be a little less lazy, Football Head? There are, like, four empty tables that you can get a new bottle from!"

Last summer, Phoebe and Gerald finally decided that they were going to give this dating thing a try. They were inseparable during those three months and when it was time for them to go back to their respective college and university, they decided to make it long-term and long-distance. Gerald was at Arizona State and Phoebe was down at Stanford's pre-med. California and Arizona weren't that far apart, but they always met home for any break they had at Hillwood.

And, of course, so did their BFFs.

At first it was just an awkward silence between Helga and Arnold. At least, for the first week. Then the insults started falling from Helga and it was only a short time later that Arnold started sending them right back to her. It was miserable and for a small amount of time, the four of them didn't hang out together. But that wasn't working for Phoebe and Gerald.

After Spring Break, Phoebe and Gerald decided that come summer, things were going to change. If Helga and Arnold still couldn't get along, they would make it happen. Or maybe their friends would end up killing each other in the process. Either way, Phoebe and Gerald were going to do something about it and have some very much peace and quiet.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Phoebe dropped her burger on her plate and stomped over to the nearest table. Grabbing the bottle, she slammed it in front of Arnold before sitting back down across from her boyfriend. "Look at you two! You're twenty-two years old and yet you act like you're in the first grade!"

Helga gaped at her and Arnold, shocked for a moment, suddenly felt a wave of shame flow over him. "Phoebe-"

"No, Helga. I'm serious. I'm sick of you two. Fighting over ketchup! Do you know how embarrassing it is to be around the both of you?" Slightly slamming her hand on the table, she jumped up again and rushed outside.

Helga could feel her face turn white as she watched her usually quiet and timid best friend walk out of the diner.

Gerald just stood and shook his head at them, giving them a disappointed look, before heading after Phoebe. "I'll be right back." Hopefully he would be able to bring her back to finish lunch.

Helga and Arnold stared at the door, stunned for a moment before both glared at each other over the table.

"This is your fault, Football Head!"

"My fault! You're the one that's being the bitch!"

Helga smirked at him but her eyes were narrowed tightly in a glare. "Oh, I haven't even started yet, you conceited jock. You don't know just how bitchy I can be."

Arnold threw his hands up in the air and stood up. "You are absolutely ridiculous. You have never had any regard for other people and you're just getting even more miserable with age. You're going to be nothing but a shriveled up old, witchy…cat lady and you'll have no one else to blame but yourself. And I'll just sit back and laugh."

Helga's smirk didn't waver although it did feel like she had just been slammed in the gut. "At least I'll have my cats. And you'll be thinking of me. Ah, Babboo. You're just the sweetest."

He threw her a look. "You're crazy."

She threw the look back. "Really? Is that all you've got, hair boy?" Annoyed as all hell with her, he had begun to turn around to leave when the door to the diner opened up, revealing a visibly upset Phoebe and an equally-upset, because his girlfriend was upset, Gerald.

"I'm sorry, you guys. I shouldn't have stormed off like that. Let's just…let's just take a few deep breaths and move on. Okay?"

"Sounds fine to me, Pheebs. It's Mr. Airhead here that has the problem."

Phoebe let out a sigh. "Helga…please." Helga just shrugged. "Great. Let's just go to Gerald's hotel room and watch a movie." Without waiting for a reply, Phoebe started walking out, abandoning her meal. Helga got up from her chair and brushed past Arnold, banging her shoulder into his arm as she quickly caught up with Phoebe.

Glaring at the bane of his existence, Arnold rubbed his arm, but spoke to Gerald. "Why a hotel room?"

Gerald shook his head, following after the girls. "We have that Japanese student over, remember? He's taken my room."

"Oh, right." Kenji obviously extended his stay a bit longer than Arnold realized. So much for the first day of summer vacation back home.

"It's not that bad. It's like one of those extended-stay hotels. You know…with the kitchens and stuff."

The car ride to the hotel was quiet. And extremely tense. Arnold didn't know why he was going to subject himself to watch a two-hour movie in the same, probably tiny room with Helga. She would no doubt find some way to piss him off. Like talk through the whole damn movie.

He didn't understand why she had become so mean. In high school, she had mellowed out and they had been very civil together. They had even gotten along. Any projects that they had been teamed up for were always evenly divided and they always got an A on them. So what had changed? Honestly, he didn't really care all that much right now.

Grumbling, Helga stomped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her, stalking behind Phoebe as they made their way up to the third floor. "Really, Geraldo? You couldn't find anything better than this dump?"

The hotel was older, but it was close to home. It had three floors, but no elevator. Hell, it was so old, they were still using keys instead of cards. She didn't even think that those places existed any more!

Gerald just shrugged, knowing that Helga couldn't see him from behind her. "It was the only thing I could find in my price range. It was kind of last minute. I didn't realize Kenji was staying longer at home." Suddenly he stopped. Turning to Arnold, Gerald slapped himself on his forehead. "Shoot, Arnold, I left my phone at the diner. Can I borrow yours to call them so they can hold it for me?"

Arnold rolled his eyes and gave his phone to Gerald before walking into the room, leaving Gerald behind outside. Normally he'd make a comment, but they had left in a hurry and unexpectedly.

The room was dark until Phoebe turned on the light. Apparently the only light was on the nightstand and in the kitchen. So much for over-head technology. "They are remodeling the place, Helga," Phoebe responded to Helga's remark from earlier. "Unfortunately, it won't be done for a few more months. They're replacing the windows now though, to get triple-pane glass. That's why the window is boarded up. It's going to look really nice when everything is done though, I bet. I'm sure my family would love to stay here when they come to visit." Helga hadn't noticed the board over the window but didn't really care. What she did notice, though, was that there was only one double-sized bed and a couch that wasn't facing the TV. This room was tiny for an extended-stay.

"Well, it looks like Pheebs and I are taking the bed. You gentlemen can find your own seats." Snickering, she punched Arnold in the arm and started to walk away.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand grab her right wrist before something slapped onto it. "Hey!" she turned around, thinking Arnold has just hit her with something and was preparing to punch him again with her fist when she saw Gerald. She started, watching him grab Arnold's wrist and slapped what looked suspiciously like half of a pair of handcuffs. Before she could make any remark, she looked down at her own wrist, still slightly throbbing from the earlier assault, and realized with horror that she had the other half of the cuffs.

"Gerald! What the fuck is this!" Helga took a step towards him, only to get caught up in her own arm. Twisting around, so her right arm was no longer blocking her, she took another step to the retreating Gerald.

Phoebe stood by the door, her shoulders back and chin up, staring at Helga and Arnold in defiance. Gerald rushed past her and out the open door, not wanting to have anything to do with this explanation. "We've had it with you two. You act like children, so we're going to treat you like children. You are going to stay in here until you grow up and learn to at least tolerate each other."

With a speed Helga didn't know Phoebe possessed, the girl slammed the door behind her. There was a small commotion outside as Helga leapt for the door, pulling a stunned Arnold behind her. Falling onto the horizontal handle and tried to pull the door open. But it wouldn't budge. Even though the handle moved, the door wouldn't budge.

"Phoebe Heyerdahl!" Helga screamed out and kicked the door. "Let me out of here!" Silence. "Phoebe!" she roared again, kicked the door harder.

"Helga, kicking the door isn't going to open it faster. Move." Arnold pushed Helga out of the way and tried the handle himself. Sure enough, it wouldn't budge.

Ignoring that their wrists were locked together in the handcuffs, she pulled hard to cross her arms across her chest, which resulted in Arnold's arm flying up. "Geeze, Arnold-o. You think you have some magical powers that the door will open when you try it? Heh." For good measure, Helga kicked the door again.

It was going to be a long day.


	2. Part Two

For the first fifteen minutes, they tried banging on the door, the boarded-up window, and the walls, hoping that somebody would hear them. No one did. Or, if they did, no one came.

Then they tried the phone, only to find that it was out of service. Arnold had leant his phone to Gerald, and was beginning to wonder if Gerald had really left his phone at the diner at all. Helga's phone was sitting in a container of rice on her counter in her room. She didn't offer a reason how it had gotten wet and he didn't ask.

So now they were sitting on the floor, their backs against the door, hoping to hear someone walk by. They hadn't spoken more than five sentences to each other.

Both were fuming and confused of why they were in this situation. Phoebe's words rang in both of their minds but neither chose to question each other  _why._

"Ugh, this is ridiculous." Helga stood up, pulling at Arnold's arm.

"Hey, would you at least warn me first?" Arnold frowned, but got up to follow her to the little kitchenette.

"I'm thirsty," Helga mumbled. Grabbing the door to the fridge, she yanked it open, hoping to at least find a water bottle. Instead, she found vegetables, fruits, packaged meat, various types of other foods, beer, a couple bottles of white wine, and - bingo! - a Brita pitcher. "Geeze, Phoebe, do you really do the guy's shopping?"

Arnold, insulted on behalf of Gerald, scoffed at her. "Gerald's an adult, Helga. He doesn't need someone to get his groceries for him."

Helga gave him a look after putting down the pitcher and started going through the cabinets to look for a glass. "Gerald eats Instant Noodles and Pizza Lunchables for breakfast. Do you really think he picked out cabbage and ground turkey meat for himself?"

He didn't respond to her, knowing she was right. Gerald didn't know how to cook anything except heat water, and even then he would probably burn it. If one could burn water, that is.

When Helga started to drink the water she poured for herself, he frowned again. "No thank you, Helga, I'm fine. I don't want anything to drink, thanks for offering."

Helga smiled sarcastically at him and put the empty glass down. "Great."

Arnold sighed and rolled his eyes. It was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

They remained silent for another hour, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.

They had resumed sitting back against the door and both of their legs were stretched out in front of them. Helga had already made up a story about the figures she created out of the old 70s floral wallpaper on the wall. Twice. Sighing, she looked up at the ceiling.

"This is stupid. I'm going to go crazy if I have to sit here much longer. Especially with  _you_."

Arnold just rolled his eyes and continued the word search he had started. There was an old newspaper in the kitchen that he had snatched up, pen conveniently next to it, before he allowed Helga to drag him back to the door. Gerald liked to play the Sudoku in the daily papers, but he obviously hadn't finished it. He had only finished the easy one, so he obviously had been running late that morning. "Whatever you say, Helga."

She looked over at him, her boredom forcing her to find some sort of outlet. She snatched the paper from him.

"Hey!"

Once again, she ignored him, and looked over what he had done. "Heh, you've been working on this for how long and this is all you've got?" She tossed it back over to him and sighed heavily.

Silence.

"It's L-O-U-I-E."

Arnold looked at her from the crossword that he had resumed. "What?"

"22 down is Louie with an E. King Louie was named after Louis Prima, but Disney changed the spelling of his name."

He stared at her for a moment before looking down at the grids. After re-reading the question for 26 across, he realized that his originally guess of "egalitarian" would now fit. "Thanks." They sat in silence for a few more minutes. "How did you know that?"

She didn't answer right away. "I didn't, really. But in  _TaleSpin_  it's 'Louie's Place' and they spell it with an E. And since it's a  _Jungle Book_  spinoff, it just seemed obvious. Especially since 26 across is egalitarian."

He blinked at her. "How do you remember that? I haven't seen that show on the air since we were kids."

She just shrugged. "I just remember it being spelled with an 'e' instead of an 's.'"

"Hmm." He looked up a question he couldn't figure out. "Do you know a dog breed with six letters that starts with a 'B'?"

Helga looked over at the paper. "Will Borzoi fit?"

"Bor-what?"

"B-O-R-Z-O-I." He tried it. Surprised, he looked at her again.

"Disney trivia and dog breeds? I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with pets."

"No, I just never had any. That doesn't mean I don't like them. Geeze, you make me sound like an animal-hater."

"Hmm," he repeated.

Silence.

"What time is it?"

Arnold checked his watch, glad he decided to that. "Just after 3."

Helga grunted and played with the handcuffs. They'd only been here for two hours. "Well…I guess it's five o'clock somewhere."

He looked up at her from his watch. A drink could definitely make the day shorter.


	3. Part Three

"And so, being the lady that I am and having to protect my virtuous honor, I punched that fucker in the eye. It had nothing to do with my knee being over my head, or whatever the hell he was telling everyone." Helga, sitting on the counter with Arnold standing to her right, grinned and took another sip from her beer.

Arnold chuckled. "I think it was actually your foot." There had been a particularly nasty rumor that went around their senior year that, during particularly rough sex, Helga had 'accidentally' kicked Roger Daniels in the face, resulting in a black eye. Turns out he was coming on to her and had some particularly forward words that Helga hadn't appreciated.

"Whatever. He was an asshole. I never liked that kid, ever since the seventh grade."

Arnold feigned surprise. "You mean that you actually liked anyone? Ever?"

She just rolled her eyes and took another sip of her beer. "No, I just didn't like assholes like Roger. And 99% of the student body."

"Ah, so then there was that 1%."

"Yep. Guess I do have some sort of soft spot."

They stayed silent for a few moments before Helga let out an exasperated sigh and put down the bottle. "God, what time is it? When are they coming to let us out? This is ridiculous now." For the umpteenth time, she began to fiddle with the handcuff on her right hand.

"It's just before 5."

"Ugh! Do me a favor, will ya? Check the drawer there behind you and see if there's any sort of tool that we can use."

Arnold turned and lifted up his left arm to start rummaging through the drawers with his free, right hand. "I really doubt that there's going to be a saw or metal cutters in here."

"Well, then, what about a piece of metal?" She jumped down and pushed him aside to start going through the silverware drawer. "Go look through the other drawers over there."

Arnold gave her a look and started opening the empty drawers. "Bossy, bossy."

"Oh, shut up and do what you're told." Closing the drawer with a huff, she moved to the left, opening up the drawer there. With the distance apart, their arms hung mid-air in between them. It was starting to itch and get really annoying. How long had they been in these now?

"What about a bobby pin?" Since the two drawers by him were empty, he came out empty-handed rather quickly. It was when he had turned to watch her that he noticed the pins she was wearing.

Helga smacked her forehead. "Doi! Yes!" Reaching up to the back of her head, she pulled out both bobby pins that were holding her hair in place. She had put them in this morning to keep her grown-out bangs in place. When it came to her hair, she was completely restless. In high school, it had gone through many different styles and colors, ranging from burgundy to brown to red to pink to teal. She hadn't been blonde in so long that most people didn't even know her true hair color. Right now, it was black with two stripes of bleach blonde on other side of her face. It was an A-frame bob that Victoria Beckham would make popular until the following year.

Arnold watched as Helga bent the tip of the now-stripped bobby pin and began to twist it in the keyhole. Within moments, it clicked and she let out a triumphant yell. "Got it!"

Arnold was impressed. "Wow, how'd you learn how to do that?"

As she worked on his, Arnold noticed her face immediately turn a deep shade of red. He blinked, wondering if he was really seeing that. "Oh, well…ya know…" she led off as another click sounded. She immediately turned towards the fridge after laying the make-shift key down on the counter. "I'm hungry." She really wasn't, but desperately wanted to change subjects.

Rubbing his wrist, he couldn't help the small grin as he realized she was definitely blushing. He couldn't remember if he had ever seen her blush before. It was a contrast to the black of her hair and very alluring. "How can you be? You just ate."

"Yeah, like, fifty hours ago. I eat four meals a day, thanks for asking." She snatched the bag of mini carrots, shut the fridge door, grabbed her beer and made for the boarded up window. Hopefully she could figure out a way to get it open.

At least she hoped. Helga stared at it for a few minutes, munching on the carrots after dropping the bag and bottle on the nightstand. There had to be a way out of here. It was just a piece of stupid plywood. They weren't going to spend a lot of money on it if they were going to replace it with an obviously expensive window.

Swallowing the carrot and ignoring Arnold as he came up towards her, Helga lift up her leg as high as she could and slammed her heel into the center of it. Normally, this would have been the weakest part of the board but, unbeknownst to her, the owners were afraid of hooligans. Their precaution of someone knocking down the board was sedated by adding the 2x4s on the outside. It would be some time before the windows were put in and they had no interest in having to replace the drywall should some punk kids decided to do some serious damage. The extra lumber was worth it, in their books.

So, as Helga put full force into the wood, she was surprised to feel the hard impact and bounced right back. Unfortunately for her, because she was expecting to move forward through the wood, she wasn't prepared for the bounce-back and landed hard on her ass. She blinked at the wood, pain running down her thighs and up her back. Did that really just happen?

Arnold, having not expected that at all, immediately began to laugh at her. Holding his stomach, he laughed harder when she just turned at him with a blank, confused look, which almost immediately turned red. There was Helga's missing scowl. "Inertia's a bitch, isn't it, Buttercup?"

Helga stood up, gingerly rubbing the sore spot on her back and just flipped him off, having nothing to say to him. Arnold just laughed harder.

Could this night get any worse?


	4. Part Four

An hour, another beer each, and an empty bag of carrots later, Helga and Arnold were sitting across from each other on the bed. In between them was a pile of red cards and they each their own stack hidden from each other's view. Helga's eyes were narrowed, contemplating her next move.

Arnold was leaning back on one hand, holding his cards up but not so Helga could see them, smirking. His arrogance at winning so far oozed off of him, which only infuriated Helga even more. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she sat up straighter. Looking up at him, she grinned.

"Queen."

His smirk rose. "Go fish."

"No way! You asked me for that card three hands ago!"

He just grinned, shook his head and pointed to a pair of Queens to his side. "Sorry, Buttercup. Too slow. Picked it up last 'go fish.'"

"Ugh!" Helga pouted and picked up another card from the pile. Arnold was four pairs ahead of her. She absolutely hated to lose. "And don't call me that. I'm not a damn Powerpuff girl."

"Then stop looking and acting like her."

Helga just rolled her eyes. "Says the football-headed kid."

"Hey, you can change your appearance. I can't."

Rolling her eyes yet again, she leaned down to retrieve her beer, only to find it empty. Setting her cards face down, she hopped off the bed. "Do you want another?"

"Sure." He watched her walk away before casually leaning over to sneak a peek at her cards. "Lagunitas? And don't you dare look at my cards, you cheater!"

He laughed and sat back, grinning innocently towards her. "Never!"

Arnold had to admit that the last couple of hours had been kind of fun. Maybe it had to be attributed to the beer, although he doubted that since they really hadn't had that much, or maybe it was because they were finally relaxing towards each other. He wasn't sure exactly when it was that they started to chill instead of bicker, but he had to admit that it was kind of nice.

In High School, they hadn't been terribly close. Sure, they wasted time with the same group of friends, but it wasn't like that went out of each other's way to hang out. He had never really had a problem with Helga. At least not since eighth grade when she finally started to calm down with her negativity and crankiness.

He remembered when she started to take pride in how she looked. Instead of slouching over, he could remember her walking with her head up high walking through the halls as she chatted with Phoebe, or whoever, and he felt kind of proud of her. Once in high school, she started dating Travis, whom had become really good friends with him and Gerald, so it just kind of worked out that they were always part of the same group.

As he watched her now, bending over in the fridge to dig out a couple more bottles, he could really appreciate how she had developed. Her hips were narrow, but she still had a waist, which was accentuated but her shorts. Normally he wasn't attracted to super skinny women, but Helga could pull it off. It was probably because her ass wasn't flat and actually had some curve to it.

Ever since she hit puberty, and maybe even before that, he always thought Helga had been attractive. Every year she got hotter and every year his attitude got worse with her. He wasn't exactly sure he was such a dick to her, but it was probably because she was always such a bitch to him.

Oh, who was he kidding? The only reason why she acted the way she did was because he would try to start something with her. He hadn't really said much this entire afternoon, but it had all be pleasant. Neither were at trying to suffocate the other.

Helga jumped back on the bed, forcing his neatly stacked doubles to slide around. "Hey!" So much about being pleasant. He playfully glared at her and proceeded to fix the cards.

" _What_ , Football Head? Don't get your panties in a twist." Handing him his beer, she picked up her cards with a grin. "You know I'm going to beat you."

He just laughed. "Not today, Pataki. I've already accepted my crown. Aces."

Helga blanched. "You looked at my cards!" She glared accusingly, handing him her Ace.

Arnold just smirked.

The game ended quickly. Arnold's win allowed him to choose the next game and he didn't hesitate to start War. It had been one of his favorites when he was really young, first learning card games with his grandpa.

It was a mindless game, allowing them to play without having any real need to concentrate. They chatted aimlessly, bringing up memorable events from their childhood and adolescent days.

"And so now you know why I'll never eat another Boboli pizza again."

Arnold just made a face and laid down a card. A seven. "Yeah, mold on anything would do that to you. Especially when it's supposed to be fresh."

"Oh, god, speaking of fresh, guess who I ran into earlier this week." Nine. Her win.

"Who? Santa? I heard he was vacationing here." Three. Dammit.

Hooded eyes casually watched him, waiting to see his reaction. "Laura."

"Really? Damn, I haven't thought about her in years. How is she doing?"

"Fine, I guess. She has three kids."

He gaped at her, not really noticing her dominant win with a Queen. "Three! Are you serious? She's only a year younger than us!"

"Yep, three. Four, two, and thirteen months. I was pretty shocked too, especially about the four-year-old." Six.

Arnold stayed silent for a moment, frowning deeply. A sudden cold chill ran down his back. "Are they all from the same father?"

"I didn't ask, but I think the two youngest were. They looked almost identical. But the oldest, I think she said his name was Aiden or Caiden or something, but it's so obviously Stinky's."

Arnold stared at her, mouth slightly dropped. "Stinky's the father?" He didn't put down another card, still reeling from the information.

"Oh yeah, no doubt in my mind. He looked so much like him it was kind of creepy." Helga stayed silent then, watching him, wondering if he would be able to put two-and-two together.

"Wow, that's just…crazy. She was 17 then."

Helga nodded, waiting for him to resume the game. Ten.

"She was my first."

Helga blinked up at him, acting as if she hadn't already known, and laid down a five. "Really? I thought you guys were only together for a couple of months."

"We were. She wanted to keep doing it, but it made me feel really uncomfortable. I guess Stinky was next." He made a slight face. "I feel bad for her. I had no idea."

"There was nothing you could have done, Arnold. It was her and Stinky's decision. It's not like you pushed her into it."

"Still feel bad." Eight.

"Travis was mine." Another six.

"Really? Didn't you guys break up just before the end of Freshman year though?" Two. Damn.

"Yep. That jerk. I saw him making out with Deborah Valentine."

Arnold was surprised at that. He had always heard it was mutual. He told her as much.

"Nah. It's just what we told people. He didn't want to get a reputation for being an asshole and I didn't want anyone to think someone could cheat on me and get away with it."

Arnold frowned deeper. King. "So did you guys hook up when we went to Portland Senior Year?" Arnold hadn't missed that she and Travis had been apart from the group at one point, missing the group lunch. Helga's response was just a shake of her head. His eyes widened after a moment, shocked at the only alternative time he could think of. "But you were 13!"

She just shrugged. "Yeah, well, since when did I do anything that was normal? I mean, looking back, we were totally stupid. And if I heard any kids that age even thinking about it, I would smack some sense into them. But whatever. I guess you could say it mellowed me out." Helga grinned at him. Nine.

"You were never really that bad, Helga. I think everyone knew that once we got into middle school." Nine. Three cards face down and one up: five.

"Just because I never beat anyone up doesn't mean I wasn't a hell child." Four. Dammit! She pushed her cards towards him.

"I wouldn't say that," he grinned. "You were always looking out for me. I have no idea how many times you saved me from those poisoned puddings. And who knows how many times I could have gotten hit by a car if I hadn't run into you. And all those damn mosquitoes and bees that were obviously landing on my head. It was always _so sweet_ of you to kill them with those spit balls."

Helga laughed at him. It made Arnold's chest feel lighter and he leaned back on his arm again, watching her. "Oh, shut up, Mr. Brightside." It was then that her stomach decided to loudly protest. She laughed again and put her hand on it as if that would stop the grumbling. "I guess this calls for another break. Food time!" She leapt off the bed, narrowly kicking over her beer, and hurried over to the kitchen. "I'm thinking dinner. Obviously, Pheebs and that good-for-nothing boy toy of hers won't be coming by and dropping off a pizza."

Arnold followed her. "Hey, he's good for something. He's got food, doesn't it?"

"Well, doi. But that's because of _Phoebe_. I think I saw some noodles in that cabinet. Spaghetti and turkey meatballs sound ok?"

He made a face as he reached into the cabinet she pointed at. "Turkey meatballs? That sounds disgusting."

She laughed. "Geeze, don't diss until you have it. You can hardly taste the difference and it's healthier for you."

"Since when did you care about healthy foods?"

"Since Phoebe tied me to a chair one summer and made me watch some documentary about the food industry. I still have nightmares." She forced a shudder for effect and started to boil some water.

Twenty minutes later, Arnold was sitting on the bed with a delicious plate with the suspicious meat. He had grabbed the remote before sitting down and propped up a couple of pillows between him and the lattice-like headboard. The pillows were pretty thin but he was just glad that the mattress was soft enough. Helga was dishing out her plate and walked over to sit on the other side of the mattress.

"How much do you want to bet that this place only gets the news?"

Arnold nodded, agreeing with her before turning on the TV. _The Suite Life of Zack & Cody_ blared through the speakers and with a grumble, he quickly switched the channel. Static. Click. Static. Click. Static. Really? "You'd think that they could at least fork over something for-" He was instantly cut off by the image on the screen. Eyes bulged out as he momentarily stopped, shocked, at the only other channel that this god-forsaken room had.

Two very naked women were pressed up against each other, rubbing something, probably oil, on the other woman's breasts. One woman moaned and arched her back and exposed her neck. And just as the brunettle leaned down, he quickly changed the channel. Static. "Uh…"

Helga was in a fit of laughter. Did that just happen? She laughed harder when she saw Arnold's very obvious uncomfortable expression and bright red face. "Geeze, Arnold-o, you look like you've never seen porn before."

He scowled at the TV, not able to look at her. "I have too." His eyes widened at what he had just blurted out and finally looked at her. "I mean…! That's not what I meant!"

She just laughed harder, falling back onto the bed, not worried in the slightest if any spaghetti slipped from her plate. Her mouth attempted to form words but only heavy laughter came out.

"Well, so much for the news," he grumbled and turned off the TV. He tossed the remote away, not wanting to have anything to do with it. Only two fucking channels and they couldn't be more opposite. He glared at her as she continued to laugh at him. "You can stop now."

"But your face! Y-you looked like…" she trailed off, laughing again. Unable to resist, he laughed lightly with her, his face still red. "Oh my god, that was great."

"I'm surprised _you_ didn't freak out…" Not yet brave enough to try the turkeyballs, he took a bite of the pasta. It was good.

"Psh, why would I? It's nothing I haven't seen or done before." She smirked and chewed her pasta at the sound of him choking. "Don't die on me, Football Head. I can't call a doctor."

"You _what?_ "

"Hey, I'm a college girl. Aren't we supposed to experiment in college?"

Arnold averted his stare when he realized that instead of seeing some faceless brunette, it was Helga who was pressed up against the woman, rubbing some sort of oil on her breasts.

She laughed. "I'm just kidding, geeze." Too late. That image was forever seared behind his eyes. Fuck. "But seriously, stuff like that doesn't freak me out. I'm not a prude who thinks that sex, or watching porn, is taboo. My roommate used to watch it all the time. If anything, it's more annoying than a turn on." She took another bite, chewed, swallowed. "Maybe I'll change my mind in a few years after I don't have to worry about walking in on Nikki and her les-porn, but for now…meh."

Arnold shifted on the bed, having completely lost his appetite. When the hell had she gotten so…well, he wasn't sure what was the word. Not vulgar. Not crude. She'd always been brash. He cleared his throat, hoping it would bring down the sudden increase of temperature in the room. Fat chance. "How about we talk about something else?"

"Whatever floats your boat, Football Head. You know, three Spring Breaks ago, I went to Cancun with a couple of girlfriends. And you wouldn't believe just how fucking hot it was there. It was so hot, the AC in our room busted and we had to sleep mostly naked," she laughed and sat straighter. Her back was getting a little sore from bending over so long. "We even tried to get into the pool one night but we almost got kicked out. You'd think that the resort would have let us stay since they were having so many electrical issues with their ACs, but they didn't care. No one in the pool after midnight! Then we flashed the guards and they let us jump in for a few minutes. Ah, good times."

Oh, god, how could this night get any longer?

* * *

Helga had made up the story about Cancun. Well, sort of. The AC had gone out, but it came back on an hour later. It was also just her and Pheebs, but she wasn't going to tell Arnold that.

She had no idea how easy he was to get uncomfortable. It gave her a thrill to watch him squirm. They had fought consistently for the last 12 months, with each visit worse than before, and Helga never once thought he was such a fudd. She knew it wasn't because it was _her_ saying those things and she was kind of surprised he wasn't fighting back. He just sat there on the bed, staring at his plate, eating the spaghetti she had cooked. She was proud to be a spaghetti-cooking expert.

The Cancun story elaborated a little bit but she stopped before she got too into it and got caught in her lie. Not that it mattered. It was just to see him get even more uncomfortable. She took a sip of her beer and decided a change of topic was for the best. "So, what do you think of Phoebe and Gerald-o together?"

He was relieved but a bit taken aback but the sudden change in conversation. "Fine, I guess."

"That's it? Just 'fine?'"

"Hey, I'm not a gossiper. I don't know what you want me to say."

"Tell me how you feel about it."

He pondered for a moment. "I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. It seemed like they were always chasing after each other in high school, but they were never really single at the same time, were they?"

She shook her head. "Nope. But I agree. Phoebe never admitted it, but I think she always secretly hoped that Gerald would show up at her door and steal her away to some romantic getaway."

He was surprised at that. "Really?"

"Yeah. She's such a hardcore romantic. A lot of people don't realize that, though. She totally buys into that white-knight, Rapunzel crap. I mean, I don't think she _really_ ever thought that Prince Charming would ever show up while she waited in a corner, but, oh yeah. I can't tell you how many romance books she's made me read."

Arnold would never have guess that Phoebe was like that. Sure, he knew girls liked all that romance stuff, but Phoebe was always so logical. "Made you, hmm?"

"Yep. She forced my eye lids open, _A Clockwork Orange_ -style." Finishing her pasta, she patted her stomach. "Man, am I stuffed."

"Yeah, this was actually really good. And you're right, I couldn't really taste the difference."

Helga beamed at him. Growing up, she never really got a lot of praises but she soaked them up whenever she did. "Thanks! And told ya so. Glad I could get you on a healthy path, one step at a time."

""Hey, just because I said I liked it, doesn't mean that I'm going to only get that. The guys would have my head if I showed up with ground turkey."

"Do you guys actually buy groceries then? And cook?"

Arnold grinned widely at her. "Nope. Not unless one of their girlfriends are over. We always just order out or eat at the cafeteria."

Helga rolled her eyes and picked up the plates. "Figures."

"Here, let me take them. You cooked, I clean." She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't protest when he took the plates from her and headed to the kitchen. Instead, she took over his spot leaning against the pillows. They were comfortably silent, Helga sitting on the bed and picking at her nails and Arnold in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes.

"I feel kind of bad," Arnold said, breaking the silence. "Eating Gerald's food, I mean."

Helga scoffed and sat straighter, stretching out her legs in front of her. "Whatever. He's the reason why we're here to begin with. Where are those two, anyway? I'm beginning to wonder if they're even going to show up. Maybe they forgot about us. Hope you didn't have any hot plans tonight, because they got abducted by aliens. We're going to rot here."

He laughed at her explanation. "Actually, I did have plans…with Gerald, that traitor." He walked back in the room after drying off his hands and flopped horizontally at the foot of the bed. With a deep sigh, he laid on his back with his hands behind his heads, staring up at the ceiling. "We were going to talk about our dreams and girls, maybe do our nails, but hey. At least the company here isn't so bad."

Helga grinned at him, feeling that all-too familiar flutter in her heart. She knew he wasn't being terribly honest, since he hated her and all, but it still made her feel like a million bucks. Even after their spats from the last year. "Aw, thanks, Sweetie. You're not so bad yourself. Ya know, for a crazy, witchy cat lady, I think I can be pretty awesome." Using her feet to kick off her Rocket Dogs, Helga felt bold enough to put her heels on his thigh, crossing her bare feet at the ankle. A shiver ran up her calves at the contact of his jeans.

Arnold slightly flushed, feeling embarrassed. Again. But whether it was because she was consciously touching him for a substantial length of time or because of the awful thing he called her this afternoon, he wasn't entirely sure. "Sorry about that…I didn't really mean it."

"Of course you did, but it's not a big deal. I've been called worse."

Arnold frowned and turned to face her, his hands still behind his head. "Really. I'm sorry. I've been thinking about us since we've been locked in here, and I don't really know why, but I guess…you just kind of get under my skin." It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth either.

"Hmm." Helga stayed silent for a moment, not really sure how to respond. Was that an insult? Was it meant to ease any tension? The sudden heaviness of the room made her sit up, cross her legs underneath her and resume playing with her nails like earlier. "Maybe it's because we've never really talked before. I mean, I did pick on you a lot. And then we were kind of just forced to hang out. And regardless of what you say, I know that at least Gerald resented that."

"Maybe," Arnold responded carefully, still looking at her. "But I didn't resent it. I don't remember what I first thought, but I know it was never that. Probably shock more than anything." He grinned, trying to lighten the mood to go back to how it was earlier. He sat up on his side, propping himself up on his arm, and poked her knee. "I mean, hanging out with my bully? Never thought it could happen."

Helga gave him a small smile. It had taken until her dating Travis to "get over" Arnold. But, really, she never did. Not truly. No one ever really gets over their first love, and she had loved him for so long and so hard, she doubted she would ever truly get her heart fully back. "Yeah, I remember Gerald-o freaking out. He thought I was going to make him miserable."

"But you just ignored him. He was constantly thinking you were going to jump out at him one day or something, but you never did."

She laughed a little at that. "Yeah, I can see him thinking that. I may have played up on it too, but don't tell him that. He turned out to be an OK guy though. I'm glad he and Phoebe are together."

It was so different seeing Helga so relaxed. She was always so uptight and angry. True, in high school, she wasn't that bad, but she always seemed to want to get into a fight whenever she saw him. Maybe that behavior was partially his fault. "You're really pretty when you smile. You should do it more often."

Her heart flipped when he said that and she was momentarily taken aback. Then she scoffed at him. "Excuse me? So you're saying I'm not pretty when I don't smile? And who says I have to smile all the time, anyway? Just because I'm a girl, I'm supposed to always look pretty and smile at everyone? That's a load of bull, Arnold. I'm disappointed in you."

His eyebrows frowned in slight confusion. "Are you being serious?" Relief washed over him when she laughed.

"Nah. Well, yes, actually I am. But I know what you're trying to say. So thanks." She smiled at him and, feeling bold and comfortable again, stretched out her legs over him once more. Her knees bent slightly over his hip and she scooted slightly down the bed, lounging against the pillows. "It is weird, though; this last year. I mean, with Gerald and Phoebe acting all lovey-dovey to each other, and then you and I constantly fighting. What a contrast, hmm?"

"You're telling me," he mumbled. He was very aware that her very smooth legs were on him and he mentally cursed himself for wearing jeans. "I am sorry, though. For being such a jerk to you."

"Please, Arnold," Helga rolled her eyes. "I was equally much a jerk to you. Of course, you were always the one to start it." She grinned, teasing him. Even though it was true. "But I know that you were just intimated by me."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Yep. Being how awesome I am and everything. It's only a natural reaction."

He chuckled. "Oh, is that how it is."

"Well, of course it is. What other explanation is there? Po has nothing on my awesomeness, even with his whole kung fu mastery."

He smiled at her. "While that may be true with Po, I don't think that's quite a good enough excuse for my behavior."

"Hmm. Maybe you thought I was a vampire and was trying to get Gerald to join my vampire-zombie harem them."

"Impossible. You go out in the sun."

"Uh-huh, but only the oldest, strongest vampires are able to withstand the sun. We've built a sort of immunity to it."

"So all the legends are wrong?"

"Of course! How else do you think we've been able to survive this long. All the stories you've heard of us are not even closely accurate. Except the drinking blood thing."

He smiled and reached over to her legs. Gently lifting them up, he sat up to better face her. "And how often do you have to drink? Being all-powerful that you are." It didn't escape him how her a shadow of nervousness fell on her face. Or that she sat up slightly straighter. The shadow was gone almost as fast as it had shown up, but he had definitely seen it.

"Oh, not too often. Once, maybe twice a week or two. It just depends on what we've been doing."

"Like…physical activities?"

"Sure. Or…power stuff. I mean magic. We can hypnotize our victims, you know." Was it just her, or was he moving closer to her? Unconsciously, she reached up moved her hair behind her ear.

Arnold, noticing this, reached up himself and grabbed her wrist, pulling it to his chest. "Oh, I know."

Helga's heart slammed hard and was stunned into silence. What was he doing? Was she just imagining the way his voice was getting lower? She tried to pull away from him, tugging her arm as hard as she could from his unwavering hold. "Arnold, let me go."

He smiled at her and slightly relaxed his left hand on her wrist. "I can't, Helga. I've waiting to do this for years." His lips oh so gently brushed against hers. It was almost feather-like and was one of the softest kisses he had ever given. An electric volt slammed into him before collapsing into a burst of warmth and desire.

When her lips responded to his, he deepened their kiss, his hand sliding down to the back of her neck to pull her closer to him. But when he felt her arms around him, her hands gently resting on the back of his head, he let his body take over.

His kiss was demanding and hot. Fueling his desire, his tongue slipped through her slightly parted lips and held her closer still. Her body was surprisingly soft against his hard muscles. Every other thin women he had made out with were hard and boney, but not Helga. Her breasts were full and fit perfectly against his chest, almost to perfection.

His lips softened against hers, seducing rather than demanding. Warmth ran down his neck and back when her hand slipped through his hair. He mirrored her action and sighed as his fingers moved through the silkiness of her cropped hair, just then realizing how soft it really was.

Sparks continued to sizzle through his body as he pulled away. His breath was shallow, matching hers and his eyes were heavy. He couldn't remember ever having such an explosive kiss like this before.

Not knowing what to say, he looked evenly at her, his chest still pressed up against hers. A sly smile lifted her lips, only inches away from his. Her arms slid tighter around his neck, bring him to her once again. "Really, hair boy? Is that all you've got?" Her voice was low, husky from his kiss as she repeated the same words she had recanted to him just this afternoon for an entirely different reason. He groaned as his lips fell onto hers once more.

Arousal coursed through his veins and he lowered her more onto the pillows. For years he had watched her grow and mature, and for years he had listened to his male classmates talk about her like she was some sort of sexual object. In the past, he would shut them down, reminding them that Helga was their friend, but it wouldn't always work. But then she had gone away for college and he didn't see her for those first two years.

Then she was there again, sexier than he remembered. And this time, the asshole he had to protect her from was himself. So instead of allowing any sort of friendship with her, he had pushed her at arm's length the only way he knew she would respond to: anger.

Even during their spats, he still desired her. The way her full bottom lip would flare out as if begging him to tug on it with his teeth. The way she stood with her shoulders back and chest out as if begging him to press his face into her breasts.

His hands were on them now, under her thin shirt. She moaned in response and shifted underneath him, pressing innocently against that sensitive, hard area between his legs. Helga's hands worked at the hem of his shirt, pulling upwards. Without hesitation, he lifted his arms and she tossed the offending fabric aside before lightly raking her nails down his chest.

He bit back a groan, having always been responsive to women's nails on his body. Goosebumps formed from her path and he broke away from her lips. As her hands found their way to his back, he pressed against her once again, kissing an invisible trail down her neck.

Nipping at the apex between her collarbone and throat, Arnold reveled at the way Helga's body pressed up against his. Annoyed with the barrier of her shirt, he pulled at it, not unlike she had done moments again. Without hesitating, she arched her body up against him. Her bra was peeled off moments later.

Not waiting for permission, he dipped his head down and took a tight nipple in his mouth. Her hands were in his hair once again, holding him close to her. Some of the most pleasurable sensations Helga had ever experienced shot through her, causing the snake in the pit of her stomach to tighten. She needed more.

"You're so hot," he murmured in the valley between her breasts, lightly nipping at the skin there. "So soft." Her nails roamed over his back, pressing softly and then hard into his skin. She was rewarded with a groan and a nip of his teeth on her nipple. Her hips lifted on their own accord against his and she stayed there for a moment too long.

Arnold pressed down against her, needing her. His framed her face with his hands, begging. "Please, Helga. Say yes."

Her breath came out in short bursts as her heart pounded hard against her breastplate. Oh Arnold. How could she every say no? "Yes."

His lips found hers once more and he drowned in the essence that was Helga.

He never wanted this night to end.


	5. Part Five

Helga stretched her tight limbs. It had been a long time since she had felt so sore in the morning. If this was even morning. Stretching her legs out again, she wrapped them around the pair that she was pressed up against and rested her head on Arnold's bare shoulder. His chest gently rose and fell from his deep breaths and it wasn't long before she matched him.

Reaching over, she gently picked up Arnold's wrist to check the time. 10:30 am. What time had they gone to sleep?

A satisfied grin tugged upwards as she unconsciously played with the little hairs on his chest. Last night had been one of the most amazing nights of her life. Arnold had pleasured her thoroughly last night; she'd like to think she did the same for him. She had never felt more beautiful or more desired as she did when Arnold had held her in his arms. Nothing could bring her down from this euphoric high.

The mattress shifted as Arnold slowly woke. She stayed still, not entirely sure what to expect from him. Just because she was on Cloud Nine didn't mean he wouldn't have any regrets. Fear stabbed her in the gut and she froze, paralyzed from any possible negative reaction.

But when his hand came up and rested on the middle of her back, she relaxed, her heart beating quickly. "Morning." His eyes were still closed but a soft smile lit his face, squashing any fleeting uncertainty. His voice was thick from sleep and she thought it was one of the sexiest things she had ever heard.

"Morning." Taking a chance, she leaned up and lightly kissed the side of his mouth. His smile grew and he fractionally opened his eyes to look at her. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like an awesome."

She couldn't help the grin. "What's an awesome?"

"Me."

She laughed lightly at that and rested her head on his shoulder again as he lazily traced imaginary lines on her back. Her heart was doing flips in her chest, still not quite believing that this was happening. 

"How about you? Sleep ok?"

Helga smiled. "Like an awesome."

His low, relaxed chuckle sent a shiver of delight throughout her body and the kiss he gave her on the top of her head caused an involuntary sigh to escape her lips. They remained silent, the tick of Arnold's watch the only sign of passing time. Helga closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of his coarse, small chest hairs scratching her cheek; the sound of his heartbeat under her ear; the feel of his breath on her forehead. She had pined for him for so long, buried her feeling deep down in a hidden box for almost as long, and then after a few short hours together alone, they were...well, what were they?

"What's going to happen now?"

"Well, I'd like to lay here for a little bit longer and then maybe go make some breakfast."

She smirked and turned to lay on her stomach, facing him. Her arms came up and crossed over his chest so that she could rest her chin on her forearm. "You know that's not what I meant."

His eyes were slightly open and he had a lazy, just-awoken grin. She couldn't help but smile wider at the child-like look that he could make sexy. "I suppose we have a few options. The first, and my least favorite, is pretend nothing happen and go back to how we were. The second, again another least favorite, accept it and still go back to how we used to be, although I don't see how that can happen." He kissed the tip of her nose and was rewarded with one of contagious grins. Once again, he started to trace lazy designs on her back. "Or, and this is my preference, we move on from whatever last year was, have a serious conversation or three, and see what happens from there."

Helga didn't respond and continued to stare at him. He noticed a few different emotions cross her face, but he wasn't able to identify them. It made him nervous. He stilled his hand and laid it flat on the middle of her back. "Am I way off base?"

Helga really didn't know what to think about it. Part of her wanted to yell at him for mocking her feelings, but another part rebutted that. Of course he wasn't. Arnold was a nice guy, but this last year had shown her a totally different side to him. A side that revealed independence and spine. A side that said he was not about to let people walk over him any more or force him to try and 'fix' things that so consumed his youth. "No," she said carefully, "it's exactly what I would want to do, too. I just don't know how to respond since it came from you and I've been waiting for it for years."

He relaxed against her again and kissed her forehead before tentatively pecking her lips. "Good. Let's start now."

"Now?" she leaned slightly, surprised.

"Yes," he replied, solemnly. "And we have to be completely honest with one another. Right?"

She nodded in agreement. Sudden worry flooded her. What kind of questions was he about to ask? Was she prepared to answer any?

"Good. First, is your favorite color pink?"

What? "Yes..."

He nodded, as if satisfied with that answer. "Have you ever done drugs?"

She smirked. "No, actually, I haven't."

He nodded again. "Did you really experiment with your roommate?"

Helga laughed at that and slapped his chest. Of course he'd ask that. "No, I didn't." She turned to lay on her back, resting her head on his shoulder. "We're friends, but neither of us would take it to that level."

"Hmm...that's a disappointment."

"You are such a pig."

"I'm such a guy."

She just grinned and rolled her eyes. "Hmm."

"How do you know how to pick locks?"

Helga frowned. "Who says I do? Are you trying to insinuate I break and enter, bucko?"

Arnold would have felt apprehensive if he didn't pick up on her playful tone. "The handcuffs, Buttercup."

"Oh. Oh!" Suddenly, her face turned bright red as the memory surfaced. "Um..."

Sensing her sudden uncomfortableness, he grinned and looked down at her as best as he could. "Completely honest, Helga."

"Well..." She cleared her throat and started to pick at her finger nails. "I... Oh, geeze, Football Head, I'm not going to say. It's too embarrassing. And you're not going to want to hear it, anyway."

"Oh, I seriously doubt that."

She laughed. "Oh, I seriously do."

"Helga..."

"Fine!" she huffed and crossed her arms over the blanket covering her chest. "A few years ago, I was dating this guy who liked to try things. I handcuffed him to the bed before he realized that he didn't know where he put the keys. They were cop cuffs, so it wasn't like he could just click a lever. I had to go online and figure out how to pop them open."

Arnold stayed silent, torn between being impressed and being jealous. Of course that was silly, though. He didn't even know the guy. "Remind me to not let myself be tied up by you any time soon."

She just covered her face with her hands. "Ugh, that is one of the most embarrassing things ever. I can't believe you made me say that."

He grinned and wrapped his arms around her, placing an encouraging kiss on the top of her head. "I got really drunk a few months ago and walked out of my dorm in just my boxers and holding an empty toilet paper roll and one of the video controllers."

Helga laughed at that in disbelief, lowering her hands. "You what?"

He just chuckled. "You heard it the first time."

"Nah, I really don't think I did," she grinned. "I could have sworn I heard you say you-"

"Yeah," he interrupted. "You did."

Helga laughed again. In the last ten hours, she and Arnold had some of the most satisfying sex that she had ever had, woken up without feeling any sort of awkwardness, shared intimately sensitive stories, and both ended up laughing over them.

She was in absolute bliss.

But the funny thing about bliss was that it was fleeting, lasting only for a short period of time. And, just like all bliss, it had to come to an end.

A knock at the door snapped them both fully awake. "Helga?"

Phoebe.

They both leapt out of bed, scrambling to find their clothes. Helga called out to her best friend as she slipped on her underwear, standing next to the door. "Phoebe, dammit! Where the hell have you been?"

Phoebe didn't answer her. "The door is jammed and Gerald is coming up with a drill. He'll be here any minute."

Helga forced her shirt over her head, moving back to the door. "What does he need a drill for?" she asked Phoebe, but looked over at Arnold. He shrugged and slipped into his pants.

"Well…we sort of broke the key in the door. It was the only way we could think of to keep you from coming out."

"You what!" Helga didn't know if she should have been infuriated over that or impressed.

"Arnold, are you alive in there?"

He grinned at Helga, running his fingers through his hair. It was such a simple act but such a turn on. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose into her hair, breathing in her scent. After a few moments, he turned his head to keep his words from muffling. "Yeah, Phoebe, but barely. Helga gave me a hard drilling yesterday."

Helga gasped and pushed him away from her. A deep crimson took over her face and she glared up at him, stunned yet secretly delighted at his innuendo.

A sudden drilling noise started and she stepped away from the door as if it would fall down onto her, hoping that Phoebe hadn't heard him. Moments later, she was slapping Gerald on his arm.

"That's for putting me into handcuffs and that's for locking me up in here with a stupid football head and that's for being a jerk!" Her hits were light and Gerald could immediately tell that that she wasn't serious. It was kind of hard to take anyone seriously who was grinning while attempting to hit him.

Of course, it wasn't like he and Phoebe had come by at some point last night to let them out, only to hear laughter from inside the room. And Phoebe, being Phoebe, never would have suggested to let them stay in there a bit longer. And Gerald, being Gerald, wouldn't have distracted his girlfriend for the rest of the evening, preventing her from coming back until the next day.

"Hey, don't take this out on me, Pataki. It's Phoebe's fault. She's the one who came up with the idea."

Her friend blushed when Helga gave her a stunned look. "And proud of it. It seemed to work. Neither of you are hurt and I dare say that you acting pretty relaxed, too. I trust you both slept well?"

"Yeah, sure, Pheebs. And way to go, Gerald-o. You broke your door." Helga tried not to let her blush reach her face again and quickly changed the topic. It didn't get lost on Phoebe.

Gerald shrugged and walked to the kitchen, wondering what food was left over. "Good thing I'm not really staying here, otherwise it'd be a bitch." He picked up a package of string cheese, peeled off the package and bit into the goodness that was mozzarella. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to see both Arnold and Helga giving him a strange look. "Wut?"

"What do you mean, 'not really staying here?'" Arnold asked, not quite sure if he had heard correctly, even though Helga was giving him the same confused look.

Realization dawned on Gerald, laughing, walked over to the armoire and opened it, revealing no suitcase, clothes, or any personal belongings. "Don't tell me you guys didn't figure this out earlier."

Helga lost count on how many times she had been taken by surprise in the last 24 hours. She turned to Arnold, silently asking how they could have overlooked something so obvious. "You mean you guys planned this? As in, put some thought into it? Not spur of the moment?"

"Of course we did," piped in Phoebe. "We've been thinking about it for months. It took us a while to really hone down on the little things, and we literally lucked out on this place, but in the end it all came out perfectly."

"But…all that food in the kitchen!" Helga protested.

Phoebe smiled at her. "I know you like to eat. I wanted to break you, not starve you."

Helga laughed, thoroughly impressed by her best friend's ingenuity. "If that had come from anyone else, Phoebe…"

"I know, I know."

"Hey!" Gerald shouted suddenly from the kitchen, holding up the handcuffs. "These aren't broken!"

Helga rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Doi, you freak. I have a talent getting out of uncomfortable situations. What was the deal with those, anyway? I mean, it's not like we could have gotten out of this room. Were those really necessary?"

Gerald grinned. "No, but I couldn't help about this one episode of Doug that I remembered, where Doug and Patti got handcuffed together, and the only way that they could get out of it was by holding hands so the handcuffs could slip off, like a Chinese finger trap."

Helga scoffed at him, shooting him an annoyed look. "That's a stupid reason."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

Helga and Arnold shared a smile as he reached out for her, gently taking her hand into his and pulled her to him. "Yeah, I'd say so." Helga's smile grew into a grin as he leaned down and softly kissed her.

Phoebe's eyes widened in shock before gleefully hurrying over to her boyfriend, holding out her hand with a hushed giggle. "I believe I won this wager."

Gerald, stunned in astonishment, looked down at the petite and wonderful woman in front of him. She had really done it. She not only successfully got Arnold and Helga to stop fighting, but also got them to release that palpable sexual tension they had been holding inside for years. In one night. Without actually having to say a word to either of them. Smiling affectionately at her, he reached into his pocket for a wallet.

It was going to be a long life with her and he couldn't wait.


End file.
